Review by ZeroSymbolic7188 for Darkthrone - A Blaze in the Northern Sky (1992)

Another album where the challenge is to say something fresh. I am not sure if fresh words will come but "lets find out". First and foremost this is a mandatory black metal album. The only reason I do not rate it higher is because Transylvanian Hunger exists and I like that album even more-it's flawless. What makes this so special you might ask? Well, countless bands in this genre try to create a frozen isolated atmosphere, but their feeble attempts just fall empty. This is how you do that kind of atmosphere the right way; this is every bit as cold and dissonant as anything else black metal has to offer, but it's also... fun and enjoyable to listen to. WHAT A CONCEPT! I think the difference here is that Darkthrone didn't set out with a formula to create that atmosphere, it was organic and just simply what came out of these musicians in 1992. The other ace up their sleeve is that they didn't throw away their punk rock energy. It's easy to forget that Black Metal has a lot of roots in aggressive punk-rock, but not on this album-it's the underpinning of all that chilly atmosphere. It is what is missing with a lot of the "atmospheric" black metal albums, and it is probably why so much of that stuff just sounds hollow to me. 

If all that isn't enough go listen to "In the Shadow of the Horns" right now. It kicks all kinds of ass. 

Also Fenriz is a fantastic human being in all of the ways that Varge sucks. It is a same that latter is more well known than the former.